Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper says their 3-2 home defeat to Fulham was “self-inflicted”.
The Cottagers’ victory leaves Forest in the bottom three.
Cooper said, “A lot of it is self-inflicted I think. We are not managing conceding that first goal very well. We are not settled enough after it. There has been a few occasions now that we look vulnerable. We were OK in the first half and were fairly in control out of the ball. I thought we started the second half well but then they got a corner, scored from it, then the second goal. We need to look at ourselves first. It’s as simple as that really.
“There are elements of our game where we don’t quite look like a team yet and that will come with time and experience which we don’t have yet because of the nature of the summer. There’s some good bits of play then other times we don’t look like a team and we are getting punished in those moments. This is the Premier League so there is scrutiny and we are no different. We need to sort ourselves out quickly.
“The supporters stayed behind the team and wanted us to get a third goal so we’re grateful for that. We know where we were 12 months ago but we are not looking back on that. There are areas we have fallen short so we need to look at that quickly.
“We need to stick together and not hide away from it. If we do that we give ourselves the best chance of progressing. This league won’t be easy. It is ruthless and we need to get up to speed quickly. It will be a difficult few days after the manner of the defeat tonight but we need to make sure we reflect then do our best to improve.”
